Second Piano Concerto

The festive carnival lasted all night.When it was daylight, the bonfire in the open space had been extinguished, and the noisy crowd gradually quieted down. The morning mist on the mountain was like the tide over the mountain top, silently infiltrating the air, trees, soil and people's heart.Qin Haiou returned to the tree covered in hot sweat and damp, but he didn't see Tan Shuo. He searched around and finally found him on the hillside at the end of the clearing.This hillside has a gentle slope and is covered with green grass and lush shrubs. From here, you can see the terraced fields outside the village, a line of river water in the canyon, and the misty mountains on the opposite bank.Tan Shuo sat on a rock, seemingly in a daze.

Qin Haiou walked towards him briskly, Tan Shuo looked back when he heard the sound, as a greeting.He looked very tired, but there was joy in his eyes, and it seemed that the night was fruitful.

"What did you write, show me!" Qin Haiou sat down beside him and rubbed his hands impatiently.

Tan Shuo took out the roll-shaped notebook from his trouser pocket, turned to one page and handed it to Qin Haiou.Qin Haiou took a look at it, and his first impression was that it was full of things like ghostly drawn symbols. After a closer look, he found that it was all kinds of rhythms written by Tan Shuo with percussion notation.But Tan Shuo's writing was too messy, and there were countless alterations during it. Qin Haiou looked at it for a few times without knowing it, and even wondered if he had taken the book backwards.

"You have to start here." Tan Shuo also knew that his writing was messy, and he tapped some handwriting on the paper to explain to him, "then go here, skip these few lines, and continue the next page from here."

Qin Haiou looked down slowly according to his guidance, and tapped his legs lightly with his fingers while watching.What Tan Shuo wrote was not coherent music, but some rhythmic fragments, which were completely different from the rhythm he heard from the drummer last night, but there was some kind of internal connection with it, and in these fragments, Qin Haiou can see the traces and process of repeated attempts and constant transformation.He felt and pondered with his fingers, and realized that Tan Shuo was trying to express the drum sound of last night with a rhythm more suitable for playing on the piano.This feeling is very strange, obviously different content and methods, but convey the same musical experience.As someone who has personally experienced all this, Qin Haiou immediately understood Tan Shuo's thoughts and intentions. He excitedly turned the pages over and over several times, and kept shouting: "Good! Good! This is great. !"

Tan Shuo laughed: "What's the matter? This is just a preliminary experiment, and it's still too early to be finished!"

"That's good too!" Qin Haiou was still very excited.

"I plan to use it in the Allegro of the third movement, what do you think?" Tan Shuo asked.

"Well, it's distinctive, unrestrained and enthusiastic, it must be very enjoyable!" Qin Haiou said.

"Which part do you like best?" Tan Shuo asked again.

Qin Haiou turned over the paper and was about to open his mouth to answer, but stopped abruptly.

"Which one is your favourite?" he asked rhetorically.

"Hehe!" Tan Shuo laughed, "Don't think so much, tell me your first impression."

Qin Haiou blinked, still looking at him hesitantly.He hopes that Tan Shuo can create freely and not be influenced by other people's preferences.But Tan Shuo also saw through his thoughts, and explained: "The opinion of the performer is also a very important reference, not to mention that you are still performing for the first time. You don't have to have any worries, just say what you think."

Qin Haiou nodded, then pointed to one section and said, "I like this one the most."

Tan Shuo turned his head to look: "I also think this paragraph is the most suitable, but there is a problem."

"what?"

"What you see now is just the rhythm," Tan Shuo said, "The piano texture based on this complex rhythm will be much more complicated than what you see in front of your eyes. So, if you really write it like this, the final The finished product ... can be difficult."

Hearing what he said, Qin Haiou couldn't help being startled, chewing on the meaning of these words.In his playing career, no one has ever questioned his technical level.Technology is his strong point, and it is also the aspect where he puts the most time and energy into. However, according to what Tan Shuo said just now, if Tan Shuo writes according to his own ideas, then in this part of the work, there will be a part of the work that even Qin Haiou feels. Difficult technical difficulties.This kind of thing had never happened before, which made Qin Haiou find it hard to imagine.But, did Tan Shuo really mean that?

"You don't have to think about me," Qin Haiou thought for a while, and finally said, "You can write whatever you want. If it's really difficult, I can practice."

Tan Shuo was silent, noncommittal.Qin Haiou said again: "Technology is just a means. If you think this writing method is the best way to express music, then don't hesitate to use it."

"Technology is just a means?" Tan Shuo looked at him in a blink of an eye, "Do you really think so?"

"Of course," Qin Haiou wondered, "Isn't it right?"

Tan Shuo stood up and took two steps slowly: "If this is the case, then why did you value technology more than anything else before? Do you know why you are nervous when performing?"

His words pierced his heart with an arrow, and Qin Haiou froze for an instant, even holding his breath unconsciously.Although he has overcome his nervousness and figured out the process and reasons, Tan Shuo always guided him secretly or from the side. This is the first time that Tan Shuo discussed this issue with him directly. .Qin Haiou stared at Tan Shuo for a moment, and the atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

"Because you forgot one thing," Tan Shuo saw that he was listening carefully, and continued, "Performance-it doesn't just exist for showing skills, it exists for music."

"You used to care too much about technique, so you forgot the real purpose of playing, and lost your way halfway."

He spoke in a pleasant manner, but Qin Haiou felt that the words weighed heavily on his heart.He knew that Tan Shuo was right.He originally embarked on this path because he liked music and the piano, but as the expectations on his shoulders increased, his attention gradually deviated from the original goal.His success covered up his flaws, blinded his senses, and he searched for a way out in the dark, only to multiply the pain.All that Tan Shuo has done so far is to help him see the light that has always existed in front of him again.Tan Shuo gave him the greatest protection, allowing this process to happen naturally and silently, and finally led him back to the right path, but to this day, hearing Tan Shuo's words still makes him feel enlightened Feel.This feeling made him startled and vigilant. He would not be carried away by ecstasy like last time, but he would not be overly stressed by Tan Shuo's beating today, because it was necessary and necessary.Now, from root to phenomenon, from principle to method, everything has been clearly laid out in front of him.

"Also," Tan Shuo said again at this time, "as a musician, if you deviate from the music, then the music will no longer favor you. You'd better not forget this."

"I will remember." Qin Haiou solemnly promised, not only to Tan Shuo, but also to himself.

"In the past, I always thought that maintaining my technical level and state and striving for further progress would be my goal in the future. But I was wrong. For a player, if he stops exploring and pursuing the music itself, then Technology has also lost its meaning to him. I used to do too little in this area, which caused such problems. Although I look like a normal person on the surface, I am actually a cripple. You let me see Getting to this point taught me to walk on my legs again. I know it's a long road and I'm just getting started, but I don't lose my way anymore."

Tan Shuo smiled, Qin Haiou's reaction reassured him.He has always avoided directly analyzing the root cause of the problem in front of Qin Haiou, because he is worried that it will backfire before the time comes.But if he doesn't explain the problem thoroughly, if Qin Haiou can't realize the seriousness of the problem itself, he can't really mature.But now, the efforts of both of them have achieved the best results. Qin Haiou has undergone tremendous changes over the past six months. Tan Shuo not only witnessed his growth, but also saw hope from him.He knew that from today on, he no longer needed to worry about Qin Haiou's problems, and he could completely let go of this matter and devote himself to his own creation.Qin Haiou has already taken off again, and he can't fall behind.

At this moment, the two were emotionally agitated, and neither of them spoke for a while.After a while, Qin Haiou was the first to recall the memory, and then asked the topic just now: "So... are you actually afraid that I will fall into the same strange circle as before because of the technical difficulty of this work?"

Tan Shuo opened his mouth, he did have this worry just now, but now it is gone, but Qin Haiou thought he was still hesitating, and immediately said: "I just said, I will not make the same mistakes again. I like this One section, not for technical considerations, but because I think it best expresses the feeling of drumming and dancing. Whether it is technically easy or difficult, as far as it is concerned, the other sections are musically It’s not as vivid as this paragraph, so it’s the best. Don’t hesitate any longer, just write according to your own ideas!”

He looked at Tan Shuo with eager anticipation. Tan Shuo knew that he would be in a hurry if he didn't express his opinion, so he nodded with a smile: "Okay, let's do it like this!"